Inspiring and helping everyone to protect wild trout and their habitat

About the Wild Trout Trust

We’re a conservation charity working across Britain and Ireland to help anyone interested in making a better world for our rivers, lakes and their wildlife, including our native trout. Flourishing wild trout populations are a sign of the health of our waterways and the land around them. Our team of expert Conservation Officers work with landowners, local communities, fishing clubs, rivers trusts and government agencies to offer practical advice and hands-on habitat improvement projects.

Practical Action

Our focus is on practical action to improve habitat for trout and all wildlife. We do this by delivering habitat improvement projects, often in partnership with landowners and other organisations, by giving advice and providing training through Practical Visits and River Habitat Workshops. Any individual or organisation caring for a wild trout population, anywhere in the UK or Ireland, can contact us for practical help, advice and support.

Did You Know...

Trout and salmon are especially vulnerable to climate change and global warming because they are dependent on an abundance of clear, cold water. As coldwater habitats warm, rising temperatures will have negative impacts on a variety of life history phases—from eggs to juveniles to adults (Trout Unlimited, 2012).

Wild Trout Trust Movie

News

In 2014, the Eastridge Estate on the River Kennet in Berkshire (with Windrush AEC) won a WTT Conservation Award for a large-scale project that improved in-river habitat, fish passage and wetland meadows. Now, a beautiful video, produced by Chalkstr...

Blog

Gareth Pedley describes a workshop carried out with volunteers from the Culdaff River Community Angling Club, the Inishowen Rivers Trust and the Loughs Agency to learn about techniques for tackling excessive bank erosion - and does some valuable work...

About Trout

Our native trout, Salmo trutta, is a wonderfully diverse and adaptable species. Trout are a clear indicator of whether or not a river or lake is a healthy environment. If trout can thrive, then so will other wildlife. Learn all about trout and their relatives, grayling and arctic charr, by clicking the links below:

Projects

Our ‘in river’ projects range in scale from a hundred metres to a kilometre or more, and may involve a small army of (wet and muddy) volunteers or a large excavator, expertly guided by one of our team. We use techniques that we know work, based on evidence and experience, and are proud to be chosen to manage the delivery of many partnership projects.

Advice

Any individual or organisation caring for a wild trout population, anywhere in the UK or Ireland, can request an Advisory Visit. One of our Conservation Officers will walk your stretch of river with you, discuss how best to manage and improve the habitat and write a report of their findings and recommendations.

Advisory visit reports are available on this website plotted on a map and as a list.

Trout in the Town

Urban rivers are a fantastic resource for communities – not as rubbish dumps but as places of beauty, calm and wonder. That’s why we work with communities to help bring trout and other wildlife to urban rivers.

Reference materials

We have a large library of information on this website, including ‘how to’ videos, academic articles and topic summaries such as predation, why trees are important to rivers, and stocking with farmed trout.

About Us

We have a small staff who work from home and who are passionate about rivers and wildlife and love their jobs! We are helped by armies of volunteers who get stuck in to projects and help us with social media, events and the auction. The auction is our key fundraising event, held on eBay every March with over 300 lots (mainly fishing) donated by our supporters. The Conservation Awards are held annually to recognise and celebrate excellence in river habitat projects.